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(No Model.) z-sneets-sheet 1. S. GRENON;

POTATO PLANTEB. No. 403,264.- Patented May 14, 1889 9 wimwwd wbomegw i N. PETERS. Phnlo-Lrthugnpher, Wilmington. D. Q

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

S. GRENON. I POTATO PLANTER.

Patented May 14,1889.

WWWm-wem u. PETERS. PholoLflhognpher, Washinghm me UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAM GRENON, OF HURLEY, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES F, LA CLAIR, OF SAME PLACE.

POTATO-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,264, dated May 14, 1889.

Application filed January 14, 1889, Serial No. 296,240. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAM GRENON, of Hurley, in the county of Ashland, and in the State of WVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Planters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to potato-plan ters'; an d it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, to be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanyin g drawings, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a potato-planter constructed according to my invention, certain of the parts being broken away for the purpose of better illustration; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Fig. 3, a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, illustrating certain of the parts in side elevation; Fig. 4:, a similar view on line 4 4, same figure; and Fig. 5, a detail horizontal section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents the axle of my machine, and B the wheels that turn on said axle. Extending forward from the axle is a platform, 0, and tongue D, braced bya stay-rod, E, that is-also extended from said axle.

Fast to the hub of one of the wheels B, so as to turn therewith, is a gear-wheel, F, and splined on a shaft, G, that has its bearing in a standard, H, secured to the axle A, is a pinion, I, the latter being brought in and out of mesh with the gear-wheel by means of a sliding lever, J, that has a spanner-connection,b, with the hub of said pinion.

Fast on the inner end of the shaft G is a mutilated pinion, K, that actuates a vertical rack, L, the latter being arranged to slide in an opening in the platform 0 and a guide, 0, on the standard H, while a lug, (Z, on the rack serves as a stop to limit its downward movement.

The mutilated pinion K is preferably provided with detachable teeth 6, and projecting from its outer side is a cam, f, the purposeof said detachable teeth and cam being hereinafter described.

The rack-bar L is provided with guide-arms g for a bent rod, M, having one end thereof bent at right angles to form a foot-piece, h,

and detachably connected to the opposite end of said rod is a spear-head, N, that moves in and out of a hopper, 0, supported on the axle A to hold the seed-potatoes. A curved flat spring, 1', projects up from the platform 0 to terminate against a post or guard, j, that also projects up from said platform. Alever, P, extends through the platform 0 and is pivotally connected thereto, as best illustrated in Fig. 1, and a rod, It, connects the lower end of this lever with an arm, Q, that is pivotally connected to a bracket, m, on said platform and carries an anti-friction roller, n, arranged to come in the path of the cam f on the mutilated pinion K, whereby said lever has a predetermined movement on its pivot and is returned to its normal position by means of a spring, 0, the latter being illustrated in Fig. 1.

Assuming that the parts thus far described are in the position shown by Fig. 1, one set of teeth on the mutilated pinion will raise the rack-bar L and thereby elevate the bent rod M with a seed potato or potato-eye on the spear-head N, until the latter comes above the hopper 0, while at the same time the cam f on said pinion will come against the antifriction roller n on the arm Q to cause an out ward movement of the latter, whereby the lever P is moved on its pivot to give clearance for the foot-piece 7L of said bent rod, the spring 1 forcing said foot-piece outward to pass over the curved upper end of said lever.

The outward movement of the foot-piece It turns the rod M in the guide-arms g, and thus said foot-piece is brought between the lever P and post j. The first set of teeth on the mutilated pinion K pass out of engagement with the rack-bar L and the latter drops back to its normal position. The fall of the rack causes the foot piece of the bent rod to strike a spiral spring, R, on the platform 0, and the jar thus occasioned. dislodges the seed-potato or potato-eye on the spear-head, from whence it falls into a trough, S, through which latter it is conducted to the furrow previously made by the machine, as will be hereinafter described, the trough being secured to the axle A of said machine.

By the time the operation just described takes place the cam f will have passed out of contact with the anti-friction roller 02, and consequently the spring 0 will cause an automatic return of the lever P to nearly its normal position in forcible contact with the footpiece h on the bent rod that carries the spearhead. The other set of teeth on the mutilated pinion K 110w come into mesh with the rackbar L, and the latter and the bent rod M are again elevated. The moment the foot-piece 71 of the bent rod M comes above the upper end of the lever P the latter is drawn by the spring 0 to a true vertical position and to the outside of said foot-piece. The rack.bar and pinion being disengaged, the former again falls and the foot-piece 7b of the bent rod, passing along the curve on the upper end of the lever P, causes said bent rod to turn in its guides and come inside the hopper to spear another seed-potato or potato-eye.

W'hile I have shown the spear head N as provided with but one prong, it is obvious that it may have any number of prongs should more than one be found necessary or desirable. By the removal of either or both of the teeth e belonging to the mutilated pinion K the distance between the dropped potatoes or potato-eyes may be regulated. The seed passes from the trough S into a furrow that has been. previously made, and the dirt is thrown back into this furrow by means of a pivotally-adjustable coverer, T, shackled to the axle A and having an adjustable link-c011nectio11, p, with a bellcrank lever, U, fulcrumed on the shaft G. Said coverer can be raised up clear of the ground by means of a erank-rod,q, operated by a lever, V, said crank-rod having its bearings on the platform Ci of the machine.

Fast on the axle A of the machine, on the side opposite the planting mechanism, is a bracket, 'W, having a perforated segment-arm, 'r, and pivotally connected to another arm, 3, of said bracket is the beam of a plow, X this beam being provided with a guide, t, that works on said segmental arm. Secured to the bracket-arm s is a spring-latch, n, that engages the guide on the plow-beam and the segment-arm r of said bracket to hold the plow in the position to which it may be adjusted.

The springdatch a is disengaged from the perforations in the segmental bracket-arm by means of a bell-crank lever, Y, fulcrumed to the bracket and linked to another bell-crank lever, Z, that is loose on the rod q, the latter bell-crank being also linked to a hancbpiece, V, pivoted to said lever V, as best illustrated in Fig. 3, soas to be within easy reach of the driver of the machine, The latch a being disengaged from the segment-arm r of the bracket \V, the plow X may be raised or lowered by means of a bell-crank lever, V fulcrumed on said bracket and linked to the plow-beam, said bell-erank lever being actuated by means of a straight lever, V pivoted to the axle A and linked to a foot-lever, V", as best illustrated in Fig. 3.

By the construction above described it will be readily seen that while the machine is planting and covering one furrow another furrow is being made.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by. Letters Patent, is

'1. A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertically-moving bar actuated at predetermined intervals, a rod loosely connected to the bar to move therewith, and means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial rotation to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement independent of said bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertically-moving bar actuated at predetermined intervals, a rod loosely connected to the bar to move therewith, means, substantially as described, for imparting partial rotation to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement inde 'ienden t of said bar, and a coverersecured to said carriage to follow the delivery-trough, as and for the purpose set forth.

A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertically-moving bar actuated at predetermined intervals, a rod loosely connected to the bar to move therewith, means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial rotation to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement independent of said bar, a coverer secured to said car riage to follow the delivery-trough, and a plow, also secured to the carriage, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and deliverytrough secured to the carriage, a vertically-moving bar actuated at predetermined intervals, a rod loosely connected to the bar to move therewith, means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial rotation to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement independent of said bar, a coverer shackled to the carriage-axle, and a lever mechanism for raising and lowering said coverer, as set forth.

5. A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertieally-moving bar actuated at predetermined intervals, a rod loosely connected to the bar to move therewith, means, substantially as described, for partially rotating the rod and for suddei'ily arresting its downward mowment independent of said bar, a eoverer arranged to follow the deliverytrough, a pivotally-adjustable plow secured to said carriage, and a lever mechanism for adjusting said plow, as set forth.

6. A potato planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertical rack-bar, a mutilated pinion arranged to actuate the rack-bar, a plain pinion splined on the shaft of the mutilated one, a gear-wheel fast to the adjacent carriagewheel, a sliding lever connected to the plain pinion, a rod loosely connected to said rackbar to move therewith, and means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial revolution to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A potato-planter comprising a carriage, a hopper and delivery-trough secured to the carriage, a vertical rack-bar, a mutilated pinion provided with detachable teeth and arranged to actuate the rack-bar, a plain pinion splined on the shaft of the mutilated one, a gear-wheel fast to the adjacent carriage-wheel, a sliding lever connected to the plain pinion, a rod loosely connected to said rack-bar to move therewith, and means, substantially as described, for imparting a partial revolution to the rod and for suddenly arresting its downward movement, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. A potato-planter comprising a carriage,

ion arranged to actuate the rack-bar and having one of its sides provided with a cam-lug, a plain pinion splined on the shaft of the mutilated one, a gear-wheel fast to the adjacent carriage-wheel, a sliding lever connected to the plain pinion, a bent rod loosely connected to said rack-bar and having a right-angular foot-piece, a vertical spring-controlled lever pivoted to the carriage-platform and having a curved upper end, a pivotal arm linked to the vertical lever and carrying an anti-friction roller arranged to come in the path of said cam-lug, a vertical post arranged adjacent to said vertical lever, a fiat spring impinged against the post, and a stop for the foot-piece on said bent rod, all arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Hurley, in the county of Ashland and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

SAM GRENON. Witnesses:

JOHN J. KEENAN, CHAS. W. CLEVELAND. 

